his eye and the
sureness of his hand. He pocketed the young men's money with humour and
urbanity. After an hour of this I grew tired and went out. I crossed the
road and came on to the beach. Three coconut trees grew there, like
three moon maidens waiting for their lovers to ride out of the sea, and
I sat at the foot of one of them, watching the lagoon and the nightly
assemblage of the stars.

I do not know where Lawson had been during the evening, but between ten
and eleven he came along to the club. He shambled down the dusty, empty
road, feeling dull and bored, and when he reached the club, before going
into the billiard-room, went into the bar to have a drink by himself. He
had a shyness now about joining the company of white men when there were
a lot of them together and needed a stiff dose of whisky to give him
confidence. He was standing with the glass in his hand when Miller came
in to him. He was in his shirt sleeves and still held his cue. He gave
the bar-tender a glance.

"Get out, Jack," he said.

The bar-tender, a native in a white jacket and a red _lava-lava_,
without a word slid out of the small room.

"Look here, I've been wanting to have a few words with you, Lawson,"
said the big American.

"Well, that's one of the few things you can have free, gratis, and for
nothing on this damned island."

Miller fixed his gold spectacles more firmly on his nose and held Lawson
with his cold determined eyes.

"See here, young fellow, I understand you've been knocking Mrs Lawson
about again. I'm not going to stand for that. If you don't stop it right
now I'll break every bone of your dirty little body."

Then Lawson knew what he had been trying to find out so long. It was
Miller. The appearance of the man, fat, bald-headed, with his round bare
face and double chin and the gold spectacles, his age, his benign,
shrewd look, like that of a renegade priest, and the thought of Ethel,
so slim and virginal, filled him with a sudden horror. Whatever his
faults Lawson was no coward, and without a word he hit out violently at
Miller. Miller quickly warded the blow with the hand that held the cue,
and then with a great swing of his right arm brought his fist down on
Lawson's ear. Lawson was four inches shorter than the American and he
was slightly built, frail and weakened not only by illness and the
enervating tropics, but by drink. He fell like a log and lay half dazed
at the foot of the bar. Miller took off his spe